Music Manufacturing
Gerry Labelle’s first musical instrument was the alto saxophone; later the tenor and soprano saxophone remained his main instruments, and he later played C Flute, piccolo & Alto flute. Gerry studied music with Frank Mella in Montreal, Canada. He has traveled across Canada and the United States...
Mark Kortschot is a Professor of Engineering at the University of Toronto who was approached by Guy Légère with an interesting idea in 1997. Guy wanted to make a synthetic reed for the clarinet from oriented polymers, but needed some help obtaining and working with these high-tech materials. Mark...
Dave Morrison is a big fan of Jimi Hendrix and was able to see the legendary guitarist in Toronto in the late 1960s. Dave’s passion for music was equaled only by his love of audio. When he found an opportunity to blend both, Dave not only found his dream job, but he established a company that...
Tony Andrews is one of the world’s most influential loudspeaker designers as well as a founding figure of the modern pro audio industry. His childhood devotion to audio led to the creation of Turbosound, one of the world’s most successful touring sound brands. Having provided sound reinforcement...
Howard Paul is the president of Benedetto Guitars and has had a passion for the instrument since he was a kid. In fact, Howard was playing professionally when he was thirteen. Over the years, he befriended several key jazz guitarists who were mentors to him, including Chuck Wayne and Jimmy Bruno....
Reiko Suzuki discovered her passion for music at a young age as she watched her father and mother operate a company that manufactured harmonicas and other instruments. This coupled with her father, Manji Suzuki’s desire to spread the joy of music to children later served as her inspiration to...
Takeomi Nishimura found his way to Suzuki Musical Instruments while studying engineering in college. Upon returning home from school one day a friend suggested he work for the company and the rest is history. Within the company, Takeomi has served a variety of roles including production control,...
Charlie Butten, audio engineer, teamed up with Bob Cohen in the mid-60’s to create an intercom system for crew communication in live productions. By 1968, they developed the industry’s first distributed amplifier analog beltpack system, known today as the ‘partyline analog beltpack system’ and...
Jun-Ichi Miki joined the Roland Corporation in 1977 right after graduating from university. After working in research of sound synthesis and analysis for electronic musical instruments, in 1994 he joined the Board of Directors. In 2013, Jun-ichi was named Roland’s new CEO and his background in...
Seiki Kato is the president of KORG, the Japan based electronics company that has created innovative musical products since his father first established the company in the 1970s. Seiki provided meaningful insight into the international growth of KORG as well as his philosophy moving forward as it...